Remotely Controlling a Transceiver over the Internet

de Rich W3ZJ

Overview

There are a couple of different ways you can accomplish remote station control. One is by installing DXLab on your shack computer and accessing it remotely via a remote desktop application such as the one built into the Pro versions of Microsoft operating systems. This works reasonably well as long as you have a fast broadband Internet connection both at home and at your remote location.

The second is by installing the DXLab applications on your portable computer and creating Virtual Serial Ports which act exactly like real serial ports but are actually TCP interfaces to the real ports on your shack computer. Since this method doesn’t require the display of all the graphics on your shack desktop it is less dependent on a high speed Internet connection to work well.

Installing the Electrologic Virtual Ports Emulator

First go to [http://www.eterlogic.com/Products.VSPE.html] and download a copy of VSPE to be installed on both your shack and remote computers. Note that this is free for 32 bit versions and $24.95 for 64 bit versions. The 32 bit version will work on your 64 bit operating system but it will nag you to purchase the 64 bit license. Follow the installation instructions and install it on both of your computers.

Configuring VSPE on your shack computer (server)

Terminate any DXLab and other applications that access your serial ports.

4) Click on the down arrow on the right side of the Device type box and select TCP Server.

Figure 3 – Type TCP Server

5) Click Next.

Figure 4 – Specify Device Characteristics

1) Note that the default Local TCP port number is 5555 and this is an OK place to start. I use three COM ports. COM1 is connected to my radio, COM2 is connected to my rotor controller and COM4 is actually a USB to serial port converter in my Winkeyer USB. Your sets up is probably different but just keep in mind that you will be setting up a TCP port server for each of the COM devices connected to some piece of apparatus in your shack.

a. For the first TCP port leave 5555 as the port number, leave the Interface IP box blank, click the down arrow next to the “Source serial port” and select the COM port you want to serve to your portable computer. Mine happens to be COM1 which is the COM port my radio is connected to.

b. Click the “Settings” button and select the Proper speed, DTS/RTS, Parity, Bits and Stop bits to match the equivalent parameters of the device connected to the COM port.

c. Click “Finish”

2) Repeat steps 6) a, 6) b and 6) c for each of your serial ports. Increment the TCP port number each time and select the appropriate COM port number for your station apparatus. When you finish you should have something that looks like Figure 5 - Server Side Summary with your COM port numbers instead of mine.

Figure 5 - Server Side Summary

3) If “Ready” appears in the status column instead of “n/a”, click on “Emulation” in the menu bar and select “Stop” before proceeding to the next step.

4) Click on “File” in the menu bar and select “Save as…”. In the file save dialog select a convenient folder to save your configuration and give it a name like “VSPE-Server”. When you restart VSPE at a later time, you will start it by double clicking on this file so that it starts with your configurations. This completes the setup for the server (shack) side.

4) Enter the virtual COM port number you want to use and then click “Finish”. Note that these do not have to match the COM port numbers on your shack computer but you will later have to configure the DXLab applications to use the appropriate virtual COM port numbers. I started with COM2 because my laptop has a physical COM1 port and I don’t want to conflict with that.

5) Repeat steps 2), 3), and 4) for each of the virtual COM ports you need.

6) In the VSPE menu bar select “Device” and then “Create”. Click the down arrow on the right hand side of the Device Type box and select “TCP client” then click “Next”.

7) In the Remote TCP host box, if you have a fixed IP address enter that IP address. If you use Dynamic DNS to track changes in your public IP address, as I do, enter the name of your Dynamic DNS host.

8) In the Remote TCP port box enter the TCP port number that corresponds with a TCP port that you defined in the server set up above.

9) In the Source Serial Port box enter the COM port number that corresponds with the TCP port you entered in the previous step.

10) Click the “Settings” button and configure the virtual COM port Speed etc. to match the corresponding settings that you defined in the server set up above.

11) Click “Finish”.

12) Repeat steps 6) through 11) for each of the virtual serial ports you are setting up. When you are finished, you should have something similar to Figure 6 - Client Side Summary below. Note that I have altered my Dynamic DNS address for security reasons.

Figure 6 - Client Side Summary

13) If the status column in Figure 6 - Client Side Summary says “Ready” or “OK” instead of “n/a”, click on “Emulation” on the VSPE menu bar and select “Stop” before proceeding to the next step.

14) Click on “File” in the menu bar and select “Save as…”. In the file save dialog select a convenient folder to save your configuration and give it a name like “VSPE-Client”. As with the server side you will want to start VSPE from this file so that it comes up with your custom configuration. This completes the setup for the client (portable computer) side but there are some additional things you need to do before you can access your virtual ports over the Internet (outside of your local LAN).

Configure Port Forwarding on your Router You will need to configure your router to forward the TCP ports you defined above I.E.: 5555, 5556, 5557, etc. to the LAN IP address of your shack computer I.E.: 192.168.?.?. Unfortunately, every router manufacturer has their own idea of menu formats for doing this and some may even call it something other than port forwarding. So, I can’t give you step-by-step instructions for doing this, you will have to consult your router manual.

Configure DXLab and Any Other Applications You May Use 1) In Commander, configure your primary and, if any, secondary CAT Serial Ports to use the virtual COM port numbers you defined in the client set up above.

2) If you are using a PTT port, configure WinWarbler to use the virtual PTT COM port you defined in the client set up above.

3) If you are using rotor control, configure DXView to use the virtual rotor port you defined in the client set up above.

4) If you are using any third party applications that access serial ports such as pstRotatorAZ, configure those to use the virtual COM port numbers you defined in the client set up above.

5) Install and configure a sound application such as Skype or IP-Sound to convey the audio from your rig to your portable computer.

You Are Now Ready To Test Your Setup 1) In the VSPE application running on your shack computer click the green arrow on the tool bar or click “Emulation” on the menu bar and select “Start”. It should now look like Figure 7 - Server Emulation Started below.

Figure 7 - Server Emulation Started

2) In the VSPE applications running on your portable computer do the same as step 2) above. It should now look like Figure 8 - Client Emulation Started below.

Figure 8 - Client Emulation Started

3) The server (shack) side should have also changed to look like Figure 9 - Server Side with Client Emulation Started below. Note, the Status changed from “Ready: to “OK”.

Figure 9 - Server Side with Client Emulation Started

4) If you see anything in red on either the client or server side, something is wrong, go back and check all of your settings. Assuming all is well, you can now start up DXLab and any other applications you may use for station control on your portable computer and it should all be working the same as it does when you are in your shack.